This year, it’s twenty items for $20 or under. Enjoy!
Honey and honey mustard gift set - $12, Chicago Honey Co-op. Located on Chicago’s West Side, Chicago Honey Co-op practices sustainable beekeeping and honey production while providing jobs for the city’s underemployed. This gift set is a great way to sample their products and support the […]
…because it’ll be Christmas before you know it.
These exquisite animal shot glasses are a far cry from the college logo-emblazoned ones we’re all too familiar with. They’re made of black glass and pewter and are designed to balance on their noses or horns when filled with your beverage of choice. Head side up, they make […]
Valentine’s Day is three days away. Saccharine profusions of hearts and flowers not your thing? There’s a sweet option for folks without significant others — or would rather not have them. Sarah’s Pastries and Candies offers heart-shaped vanilla bean sugar cookies decorated with choice phrases like “No thanks”, “Not a chance”, and “There’s someone else”.
Cookies […]
The year of the rat.
Celebrate at Lao Beijing Restaurant in Chinatown with their Chinese New Year Family Style Dinner this Saturday, February 9, from 3:30-6:30 PM. Cost is $30 and includes dinner and other activities including a make-your-own-dumplings workshop. 2138 S. Archer, 312-881-0168.
As a child of Taiwanese immigrants, I was sometimes embarrassed by the ethnic dishes my mom served for Christmas dinner. I wanted the beautiful browned turkey and the honey-lacquered ham; what we got was roasted duck from Chinatown. (And you can stop it with the fa-ra-ra-ra-ra jokes already.) Now, a couple of decades later, I […]
Last Christmas a friend of mine received a Starbucks gift card from his boss. Not a very original gift, but it’s the thought that counts. And that thought must’ve been “I don’t want to offend you by not getting anything but I really couldn’t care less, so let’s see what’s in the lobby. Oh hey, […]
Here’s a confession: I’m really bad at making pie crust. I’ve tried just about everything — all-butter, all-shortening, half and half, the food processor method, the pastry cutter thing, bare hands — only to end up with something slightly too dry/too gooey/rolls out funny/holes in it. What’s a girl to do when she has to […]
One of my favorite fall comfort foods is butternut squash soup. It’s sweet, creamy, and a wonderful deep golden yellow — liquid autumn in a bowl.
This recipe was created by Shawn McClain, executive chef of Custom House, Spring, and Green Zebra restaurants here in Chicago. The addition of blue cheese provides a nice pungent counterpoint […]
Celebrate Day of the Dead with decadent chocolate skull truffles by D.L. & Co., pictured above. From left to right: scorched caramel, bitter white brandied cherry, curious chili. (I’m not making up these names, folks.) At an outrageous $100 for a set of three, the price alone will kill you.
Vosges offers three types of chocolate […]
Our favorite food and travel raconteur Anthony Bourdain has filmed a holiday episode of No Reservations with rockers Queens of the Stone Age. (I personally would’ve chosen a cooler band like, say, Iggy and the Stooges. But as one astute rollingstone.com reader pointed out, this is “much better than the ill-fated Emeril and King Diamond […]
